A near-frozen kitty a whisker away from death was saved from a frigid Long Island storm drain yesterday thanks to a passer-by’s sharp ears.

The feline rescue mission started at 1 p.m. when Oceanside Fire Chief Tim Biscay’s wife, a Humane Society volunteer, got a call from a woman who had heard a cat crying beneath a drainage grate in a store parking lot on Long Beach Road.

She and her husband raced to the scene as the chief called his ladder company to help.

“We have a lot of tools, and deep down, most of the guys here are real animal lovers,” said Biscay, who has performed several cat rescues.

Firefighters tried to coax the shivering black and white kitten out from its perch inside a pipe between two grates, but it was too frightened to move.

Then they “spooked” it with a fire extinguisher — and the soggy furball jumped into the arms of firefighter Matt Martin.

“The poor little thing was pale and shaking — he was probably hypothermic,” said Biscay.

The kitten, nicknamed “Storm,” was taken to the Hilton Animal Hospital in Lynbrook. Dr. Jeffrey Strom said the cat is out of the woods.

“He was definitely hypothermic,” said Strom. “But he’s eaten and is in a warming cage, and he seems to be brightening up.”

Once healthy, Storm will go to the Long Beach Humane Society for adoption.